Categories: News

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore Steps Down

After 27 years as Burkina Faso’s Head of State, Blaise Compaore (pictured) has stepped down from his post in the midst of violent protests that called for his immediate resignation, reports the BBC.

On Thursday, Army Chief Gen. Honore Traore (pictured below) announced on behalf of President Compaore that he would not run for re-election in 2015 but would remain in his post and create a transitional government that would “be put in place in consultation with all parties.” Traore also announced that Parliament would be dissolved.

But as the public gathered in the streets on Friday, with the energized declaration, “Fulfill your responsibilities or we will do so ourselves,” protestors demanded that the nearly three-decade President step down at once.

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Burkino Faso Protests

Burkina Faso rapper Smockey of the civil society group Le Balai Citoyen told a radio station that the people were “determined once and for all to remove the President.”

In addition, opposition leader Zephirin Diabre said in a released statement that the people should “maintain the pressure by systematically occupying public spaces.

“The opposition has said and will say again that the precondition for any discussion relating to a political transition is the departure, pure and simple and without condition, of Blaise Compaore.”

Face2Face Africa reported on the protests that took a violent turn, when demonstrators set fire to key establishments and ransacked a radio station:

On Thursday, livid protestors in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, set fire to parliament, city hall, and Congress for Democracy and Progress party headquarters, after legislators considered extending presidential term limits for the third time.

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The BBC reports:

State television has gone off air after protesters stormed the building housing it and ransacked it, Reuters quotes a witness as saying.

Smoke could be seen billowing from parliament.
Police had earlier fired tear gas to prevent protesters from moving in on the parliamentary building.

But about 1,500 people managed to breach the security cordon and were ransacking parliament, AFP reports.

Protesters were setting fire to documents and stealing computer equipment and cars outside the building were also set on fire, it reports.

So there were cheers when an army spokesman reportedly delivered the news on Friday that President Compaore had vacated his office, with the following statement:

“In order to preserve the democratic gains, as well as social peace. I declare a power vacuum to allow the establishment of a transition leading to free and fair elections within a maximum of 90 days.”

Meanwhile, Gen. Traore has taken over as head of state and former President Compaore’s location is still unknown.

Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.